Senior lacrosse player Meghan Murphy is one of three Notre Dame student-athletes ever to receive both the Kanaley Award ('07) and the Chris Zorich Award ('06).

May 2, 2007

The Notre Dame Athletics Department held the sixth annual O.S.C.A.R.S (Outstanding Student-Athletes Celebrating Achievements and Recognition Showcase) on Wednesday, May 2, at the Joyce Center - honoring more than 750 student-athletes for their achievements on the field and in the classroom during the 2006-07 school year.

The presentation of the three major athletic awards - the Byron V. Kanaley Award, the Francis Patrick O'Connor Award and the Christopher Zorich Service Award - highlighted the evening's festivities. In conjunction with Notre Dame's Office of Academic Services For Student-Athletes, the Top Gun Award and Chuck Linster Award also were presented. In addition, a member of each team was selected for the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award and the Notre Dame Monogram Club Team MVP Award. The Trophy Award (recognizing excellence in community service), which was awarded for the first time in 2006, was presented to the Notre Dame women's soccer team.

The 2006 women's soccer team became the first team in Notre Dame history ever to produce recipients of the Kanaley, O'Connor and Zorich Awards in the same year - in addition to receiving The Trophy award, in recognition of the team's community service excellence.

The Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor presented to an Irish student-athlete, has been given each year since 1927 to senior monogram athletes who have been most exemplary as both students and leaders. Chosen by the University's Faculty Board on Athletics, the awards are named in honor of the 1904 Notre Dame graduate who was a member of the baseball team as an undergraduate. Kanaley went on to a successful banking career in Chicago and served the University as a lay trustee until his death in 1960.

Hockey senior T.J. Jindra (Faribault, Minn.) and women's soccer junior Amanda Cinalli (Maple Heights, Ohio) were the recipients of the O'Connor Award. Since 1993, the University has presented this award in the name of O'Connor, a former student-athlete who died in 1973 following his freshman year at Notre Dame. Pat was the son of William "Bucky" O'Connor, who played guard for the Notre Dame football team in the 1940's.

The O'Connor Award honors one male and one female student-athlete who best display the total embodiment of the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their respective teams. To be considered, student-athletes must possess those qualities attributed to Pat O'Connor: caring, courage, confidence, encouragement, humility, honesty, humor, kindness and patience.

Two senior members of the Irish rowing team - captain Meghan Boyle (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Maria Romano (River Forest, Ill.) - joined women's soccer senior Claire Gallerano (Dallas, Texas) and senior lacrosse player Ryan Cunn (West Islip, N.Y.) in receiving the Christopher Zorich Award, which was first presented in 1998. The Zorich Award was created to recognize the contributions of Notre Dame student-athletes to the University and community at-large. The award holds the name of a two-time football All-American and 1991 graduate who went on to play in the National Football League for both the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins before receiving his law degree from Notre Dame in 2002.

The Notre Dame women's soccer team was recognized with The Trophy Award, which was presented for the first time in 2006. Established by the Office of Student Welfare and Development, The Trophy Award annually recognizes an athletic team that has demonstrated its commitment and dedication to the community through unparalleled community service to Notre Dame and South Bend.

With the awards presented to Lorenzen, Gallerano and Cinalli, the women's soccer program becomes the first team at Notre Dame to produce recipients of the Kanaley, O'Connor and Zorich awards in the same year (dating back to 1998, when the Zorich Award first was dedicated). The women's soccer program - which in 2004 became the first Notre Dame team to produce Kanaley, O'Connor and Zorich Award recipients during the current decade (but in different years) - now has seen 11 of its players receive one of the top awards from the athletics department (10 in the past 12 years and nine this decade). At least one Notre Dame women's soccer player has received a top award from the athletics department in five of the past six years (all but 2005).

Murphy is the third Notre Dame student-athlete ever to receive both the Kanaley ('07) and Zorich ('06) awards, joining former basketball center Ruth Riley and recent baseball pitcher Tom Thornton in that unique distinction. Riley received both awards in 2001 while Thornton was recognized with both honors in 2006.

Senior fencer Colleen Walsh (Monticello, Ill.) received the Top Gun Award, recognizing the graduating student-athlete with the highest grade-point average. Student athletic trainer Daniel L'Heureux (Oak Park, Ill.) was awarded the Chuck Linster award that is given annually to a senior member of the support group (athletic trainers, cheerleaders and student managers) with the highest-grade point average.

Brown is one of the most decorated swimmers in Notre Dame history and earlier this week was named the recipient of a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship. He ranks second all-time in program history with 10 all-BIG EAST honors. His senior season included collecting four all-conference accolades while helping the Irish post a runner-up finish at the BIG EAST Championship. Brown was an integral part in Notre Dame capturing back-to-back BIG EAST crowns in 2005 and 2006 and was a member of the winning 800-yard free relay team that registered a school-record time at the 2006 BIG EAST meet. Brown also was a part of school records in the 500 free and 400 free relay during his Irish career.

Along with his swimming accomplishments, Brown's excellence in the classroom has included receiving the team's Knute Rockne Student-Athlete Award for the 2006-07 season. Brown also has been tabbed as a College Swim Coaches Association of America All-Academic performer and a BIG EAST Academic All-Star. He currently owns a 3.72 grade-point average in the College of Science and will graduate in May with a double major in biological sciences and anthropology.

Brown is the fourth member of the men's swimming and diving program to receive the Kanaley Award during the current decade and one of seven from the program to receive the Kanaley (dating back to the late 1960s). Others from the swimming and diving program who have received the Kanaley include: Thomas Bourke ('68), Robert Ebel ('77), Brian Casey ('85), Ray Fitzpatrick (2000), Matt Hedden ('01) and Michael Koss ('02).

Erigha is considered one of the top sprinters ever to run at Notre Dame. She is a two-time BIG EAST champion (2005 outdoor 100 meters; 2006 indoor 200m) and has totaled the most all-conference finishes (12) and the all-BIG EAST indoor honors (7) in the history of Notre Dame women's track and field. Erigha has qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 200-meter dash during each of her four years while also qualifying in the 100-meter dash each of the past three seasons. She is a member of the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams that each have qualified for the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional.

A fixture on the school's all-time top-10 lists, Erigha holds down nine of the top-10 times at 60 meters (indoors), five of the top-six at 200 meters (indoors), eight of the top-10 at 100 meters (outdoors) and five of the top-10 at 200 meters (outdoors). She is the school recordholder in the indoor 60 and 200 meters, as well as the outdoor 100 meters.

Erigha owns a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average while enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters as a sociology major. She earned Dean's List recognition in the 2005 spring term, after posting a 4.0 GPA, and was named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V Second Team (as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America/CoSIDA). Erigha joins her former teammate and All-America distance runner Stephanie Madia ('06) as members of the women's track and field program who have received the Kanaley Award.

Dalby garnered first team All-America honors as a junior and senior. He started all 88 games during his Notre Dame career, helping the Irish compile a 56-20-12 record from 2003-06 and four NCAA Tournament berths, along with a BIG EAST regular-season and tournament title. Dalby earned four monograms and was an all-BIG EAST selection three times, including being named the 2006 BIG EAST midfielder of the year.

One of the final-15 candidates for the prestigious M.A.C. Hermann Trophy (national player of the year) in both 2005 and '06, the two-time team captain was a staple in the Irish midfield while also shifting to the backline at times, totaling four goals and two assists during his collegiate career. Dalby also was a member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team and has graduated from the College of Arts and Letters with dual degrees in theology and film, television and theater.

Lorenzen served as just the second solo captain in Notre Dame women's soccer history (and first since the inaugural season in 1988), with her leadership and steady play as a central defender helping the 2006 squad compile one of the top seasons in the history of Division I women's soccer. The Irish held the nation's number-one ranking for most of the 2006 season and did not lose until the national championship game, tying the team record for wins in a season (25-1-1). Only five teams in the 25-year history of Division I women's soccer have totaled more than 25 wins in a season.

Despite the absence of fellow central back Carrie Dew (the 2006 BIG EAST defensive player of the year) for four early games and all of the '06 postseason, Lorenzen stepped forward to guide freshman Haley Ford into her pressure-packed starting role. The 2006 Irish did not face a deficit for 16 straight games (prior to the NCAA final) and led the nation with 19 total shutouts, also ranking third with a 0.40 goals-against average that was just shy of the Notre Dame record (0.36). Lorenzen helped the Irish compile an 85-11 season scoring margin, with 28 more goals than their opponents' combined shots on goal (57). Notre Dame in 2006 allowed a per-game average of just 2.11 shots on goal - setting another Irish record - and finished the season with 423 more total shots than its opponents (583-160), including an even +200 in shots on goal (257-57).

Lorenzen - who also served as starting right back during her career and was a starter on the 2004 NCAA title team - was part of a senior class that went a combined 92-8-3 from 2003-06 (the nation's second-most wins in that span). The 2006 seniors also finished with the second-best career win percentage (.908) in the program's history, with 66 shutouts and 91 games allowing 0-1 goals during their 103-game career. Lorenzen ended up 16th in Notre Dame history with 95 career games played (85 starts), with the Irish going 41-2-1 over the past two seasons in games started by Lorenzen.

Named the defensive MVP of the 2006 BIG EAST Tournament and a three-time BIG EAST weekly honor roll recipient, Lorenzen started all 29 postseason games of her career and helped the Irish compile the third-longest home unbeaten streak (40 games; 39-0-1) in NCAA D-I history (the 2006 seniors finished 53-2-1 in their careers at Alumni Field). She totaled three career goals and five assists from her defensive position and was named an NSCAA first team Scholar All-American, with a current cumulative GPA of 3.50 as a finance major.

Murphy - the second Notre Dame women's lacrosse player to receive the Kanaley Award (Kerry Callahan - 1999) - has played a key role for the Irish over four seasons, at both midfield and attack. She has helped Notre Dame make two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2004, 2006), including the 2006 trip to the NCAA semifinals. Murphy's career totals include 54 games played, with 39 starts, 49 goals and 30 assists. Her 2007 season includes career-best totals in goals (18) and assists (17) while ranking fifth in team scoring with 35 points.

Off the field, the talented anthropology and pre-professional major has served as vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), overseeing the group's community service efforts. Her extensive community service work previously earned her the athletics department's prestigious Christopher Zorich Award (for 2005-06). She owns a 3.70 cumulative grade-point average and will attend medical school at Georgetown, starting in the fall of 2007. Murphy already has won a BIG EAST postgraduate scholarship and has been currently is under consideration for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. She will graduate in May from the College of Arts and Letters, with a degree in pre-professional studies and anthropology.

As a junior, Murphy was named a third team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American and is a leading candidate for Academic All-America honors again this season. She also was selected to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's (IWLCA) academic honor roll to cap her 2006 season.

T.J. Jindra

Jindra has served as the Notre Dame hockey team captain for each of the past two seasons, becoming just the 14th player in the program's 39-year history to spend two seasons as captain. He is the first Irish hockey player to receive the O'Connor Award. An integral part of the Irish hockey team's first-ever Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular-season and tournament championships, Jindra has proven to be a strong team leader both on and off the ice.

In his seasons as captain, Jindra served as the liaison between the coaching staff and his teammates in working to help form and develop the tight-knit unit that set school records for overall wins (32) and CCHA wins (21) in 2007. The Irish boosted their win total by 19 games from the 2005-06 to 2006-07 seasons.

One of the top defensive forwards in the CCHA, Jindra received the Charles "Lefty" Smith Coaches' Award that annually is presented to the unsung hero of the Notre Dame hockey program - the player who is unheralded, has overcome adversity and shows loyalty and commitment to his teammates, Notre Dame hockey and the University of Notre Dame.

Jindra's senior season included scoring two goals and seven assists in 41 games played, for serving as both a center and right wing. His career totals include 12 goals and 34 assists in 150 games. Jindra will graduate in May with a degree in accounting, from the Mendoza College of Business.

Cinalli - who joins former baseball player Steve Sollmann (2003 recipient) as the only non-seniors ever to receive the O'Connor Award - was recognized as 2006 third team All-American (by Soccer Buzz), in addition to collecting second team all-region honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and being named second team all-BIG EAST. An all-BIG EAST performer in all three of her seasons with the Irish, Cinalli ranks 19th in Notre Dame history with 88 career points and 17th in goals (31, plus 26 assists). She is four assists shy of becoming the 12th player in Notre Dame history to reach 30 career goals and 30 assists.

The 2006 season saw Cinalli earn national player-of-the-week honors from Soccer America in the second week of the season, after scoring on a header in the 2-0 win over USC and then scoring twice and adding an assist in a game versus Santa Clara that was a showdown of teams ranked No. 1 in different national polls (the Irish won, 3-1). She finished as the fourth-leading scorer (26 points; 11 goals, 4 assists) on a 2006 team that spent most of the season atop the national polls and advanced to the NCAA title game before finishing 25-1-1.

A versatile player who served with equal effectiveness as a forward and midfielder on the 2006 team, Cinalli also has played with the U.S. Under-21 National Team and competed in the 2006 Nordic Cup. The Notre Dame Alumni Association honored Cinalli in 2006 with the Mike Russo Award, which recognizes exemplary qualities in Notre Dame students that epitomize the fine character of Russo (a former Notre Dame student-athlete and avid sports fan who died in 1990 from injuries sustained in a traffic accident, shortly after completing his freshman year at Notre Dame). Cinalli was presented the Russo Award in recognition of her "spiritual strength that comforts and inspires those she encounters." A pre-professional studies major, she has been an active participant in the women's soccer program's various service activities - in addition to her involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, in youth activities at Granger Community Church and the Robinson Community Learning Center, as a volunteer at Memorial Hospital with the HUGS program, and in her hometown of Maple Heights, Ohio, where she volunteers at a soup kitchen for the homeless.

Gallerano has been a leader of the women's soccer program's extensive community service activities throughout her career and was instrumental in organizing many of her team's community service activities. She also was active in the Paint Fest, Christmas Party, Boys and Girls Club, St. Jude's Fundraiser, Memorial Children's Hospital, ACE Clinic, Early Childhood Development and Soccer Clinic.

One of the top defensive midfielders on the 2003-06 Notre Dame teams, Gallerano made six starts among her 48 career games played. She scored in the 2006 opening win over Iowa State (9-0) and also picked up an assist in the 3-0 win over SMU, just miles from her hometown of Plano, Texas. She helped the Irish rack up an 85-11 scoring margin in 2006 while outshooting their opponents 85-11. Gallerano was part of an eight-member 2006 senior class that compiled a 92-8-3 record (.908) spanning the 2003-06 seasons, ranking as the nation's second-most wins in that span and also the second-best senior winning percentage in the 19-year history of Notre Dame women's soccer.

Gallerano joins former midfielder Mia Sarkesian ('02) as the women's soccer program's second recipient of the Zorich Award

Boyle and Romano have been key members of Notre Dame's varsity eight boat that currently is ranked third in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA)/US Rowing poll - its highest ranking in school history. Boyle has rowed with the varsity eight for four years and currently sits in the third seat, while Romano has been the boat's coxswain since the start of her junior year. The Irish recently won the gold medal at the 2007 BIG EAST Championships for the second consecutive year and have defeated five top-10 boats -- the most by a Notre Dame team in a single season. The duo of Boyle and Ramano also helped the Irish claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive BIG EAST team title.

The 2006 season saw Boyle and Romano helped the Irish turn in an historic season, as the varsity eight crew finished fifth in the final CRCA/US Rowing poll and won gold medals at both the BIG EAST and Central/South Region championships. The boat also won the petite final at the NCAA Championships to finish seventh overall. Notre Dame in 2006 earned its first-ever team berth into the NCAAs and finished ninth overall. Romano received first team all-CRCA Central Region honors for that record-setting 2006 season.

Boyle organized all community service for the women's rowing team and was at the forefront of organizing scheduled visits with the youngster the team adopted through the Fighting Irish Fight For Life Program (which pairs a cancer victim with an athletic team). She also participated in the Relay For Life, Partner Up Program, Paint Fest and the annual Christmas Party for patients from Memorial Hospital's hematology/oncology ward. Romano also has volunteered at both St. Joseph and Memorial hospitals, while Boyle has been involved with the D.A.R.E. drugs and alcohol program.

Cunn has been a major contributor off the bench for the men's lacrosse team over the past three seasons. He has played in 35 games during his career, totaling six goals and four assists. Cunn has totaled two goals and four assists this season, while helping Notre Dame win the Great Western Lacrosse League title and the corresponding berth into the NCAA Tournament.

A monogram winner as a junior in 2006, Cunn played in 13 games that season and was a factor in Notre Dame advancing to the NCAAs for the first time since 2001. He is a member of the Notre Dame Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and has organized all community service projects relative to the men's lacrosse team, including mentoring at Jefferson School, a grade schools in South Bend. He also has participated in the Christmas Party and Paint Fest.

The women's soccer team completed many hours of community service during the 2006-07 academic year and were active in eight speficic outreach projects - Paint Fest, Christmas Party, Boys and Girls Club, St. Jude's Fundraiser, Memorial Children's Hospital, ACE Clinic, Early Childhood Development, and the team's annual soccer clinic for South Bend/Michiana youth.

Walsh received her biology degree from the College of Science in May of 2006 and will receive her second degree in three weeks from the College of Arts and letters, in anthropology. A four-time monogram winner and member of Notre Dame's 2003 NCAA championship team, she was an NCAA alternate in foil in 2004.

During the 2004-05 academic year, Walsh studied abroad at Oxford University, and for the past two years has been a member of Academic Honors Program, which provides faculty mentoring for a select group of student-athletes. Walsh has a 3.91 cumulative grade-point average and in 2005-06 was the fencing team's Rockne Student-Athlete and the Alice Langford Women's Foil Leadership Award.

L'Heureux was a student athletic trainer for four years and has a 3.89 cumulative grade-point average. He will be graduating from the College of Science with a degree in biological sciences and a minor in anthropology.